Mexico was the home to highly developed ___________________________, including the Mayas and the Toltecs (later called the ___________________________), since at least the 10th ___________________________. In the early ___________________________, Spanish ___________________________ came to Mexico, brutally toppling the local rulers, claiming the land for Spain, ___________________________ many Indians, and looting what they could of Mexico's ___________________________. For over ____________________ years, Mexico, then called ___________________________, was a part of Spain's ________________________.

On ___________________________ 16, 1810, the priest Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla started a revolt against Spanish rule. He and his untrained Indian followers fought against the Spanish, but his ___________________________ was unsuccessful and Father Hidalgo was executed. After this setback, Father Jose Maria Morelos led the revolutionaries, but he also failed and was ___________________________. These two men are still symbols of Mexican ___________________________ and patriotism.

After the Mexican-born Spanish and the Catholic Church joined the revolution, Spain was finally ___________________________ in 1821. Mexican Independence Day is celebrated on September 16 of each year, the ___________________________ of the start of Father Hidalgo's revolt.